Prom-inent coverage

As sure as dandelions bloom in spring, you can expect a great outpouring of
stories on proms at this time of year.

We cover the fashions, the limousines, the inevitable controversies. And we
use proms as metaphors. Hence the annual White House
Correspondents' Dinner in Washington recently was dubbed “the Nerd Prom.”

One staple of prom coverage is the unconventional prom dress. If you want to
get your name in the paper, there are few more reliable ways than to show up at a prom in something
made of
duct tape,
cardboard or
soda
tabs.

In fact that page is basically a microcosm of all the classic prom stories:
overly sexy dresses, celebrity dates, exclusionary tactics and elaborate prom
“ proposals.”

When exactly did asking someone to the prom become a proposal, let alone a
media production? I suspect it’s bleedover from the public wedding proposal made on a stadium
scoreboard or similarly ostentatious means.

It seems like a lot of pressure to me. Whatever happened to sidling up to
someone in the cafeteria and saying “wanna go?”.

There is something charming about adolescents adopting the customs adulthood
for the first time. But it occurs to me that in an increasingly casual society, the prom is
actually out of step with the times. People get married in blue jeans. They are buried in golf
clothes. Unless you're Hollywood glitterati or a wealthy socialite, you could easily get through
your whole life without donning a gown or tuxedo.